Descendants of Nicholas Leyberger (Lybarger)
of the Palatinate of the Rhine

Generation #1

Nicholas Leyberger of Lower Palatinate, Germany

Research Note: According to the genealogies of the Lybarger family, the progenitor was a Johann Adam who immigrated 9/19/1732 to Philadelphia and was a Quaker. Well, no. The Lybargers were ethnic German Lutherans from way back as cited in the Lybarger Lutheran Church records. And from the 1/1744 Conewago Twp, Lancaster (now York) Co PA birth record for son Ludwig, we learn the father's name was Nicholas.

Nicholas Leyberger was born in about 1707 in Saarland, Lower Palatinate, Germany. In 1727 in Brenschelbach, Palatinate of the Rhine, Nicholas married Maria Catharina Catgaruba b. c. 1710 in Saarland. Palatinate of the Rhine.

Located between the Main and Upper Rhine rivers and extending south to Switzerland, the Rhenish Pfalz was devastated by wars between Catholic France and Protestant German states, overpopulation, heavy taxation, and exceptionally harsh winters between 1708 and 1719. Conditions were rife for ex-migration. [Palatinate Immigration]

Nicholas and family immigrated on 8/27/1739 to Philadelphia PA aboard the Snow Betsie from Rotterdam. And, Nicholas and Maria Catharina may have sojourned in the Lancaster settlements east of the Susquehanna. Their first recorded residence was in 1741 at Conewago Twp, Lancaster (now York) Co PA, west of the Susquehanna.

This very early migration date would have required a rather interesting three-stage route. In the first stage, the Lybargers would have departed Philadelphia heading west and south down the Great Wagon Road toward the Susquehanna River. After passing through Lancaster town, the character of the road greatly changed. The newer sections of the "road," having been open only for a decade, would have been most likely a path barley passable for carts; and "great" would need to be reserved for a nonspecific period decades in the future.

By 6/1741 Nicholas and family settled in Conewago Twp, Lancaster (now York) Co PA, west of the Susquehanna, on the extreme edge of civilization. Having crossed the Susquehanna, our ethnic German ancestors were not migrating west. They were migrating south down the Great Wagon Road to new lands between the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies. [Lybarger Migration Map]

The first Lutheran church on Conewago Creek was founded after 3/1733 when Rev. John Caspar Stoever performed the first baptism. And, Rev. Stoever regularly visited the church about twice a year until 1741. Evidently, son John George was one of the last baptisms performed by Rev. Stoever west of the Susquehanna.

By the summer of 1743, a new log church was erected at Hanover and a permanent pastor was found in Rev. David Chandler. The "new" log church was the first structure for the future St. Mathew's Lutheran Church, Hanover, York Co PA. And, son John Ludwig was one of the firs children baptized at the new church.

Research Note: Rev. Stoever is important to this research as he was the founding pastor at Conewago Creek PA and the itinerant preacher who initially served the Lutheran communities of Monocracy Creek and Fredericksburg in Maryland. Rev. Chandler is important to this research as he was also the founding pastor for the Lutheran churches at Monocracy Creek and Fredericksburg in Maryland

Sometime after the Christening of John Ludwig in January of 1744 and by 3/1754, the second migration stage would have continued down the Great Wagon Road toward the Potomac River in Maryland.

Research Note: Migration westward from York wasn't possible prior to construction of Forbes Road in 1758 and the cessation of hostiles at the end of the French and Indian War. There was an Indian path west, but there were no civilian settlements at Ft. Raystown (now Ft. Bedford) until 1768.

Once reaching the Potomac near the ethnic German Hagers settlement (later Hagerstown MD), there was perhaps a cart tract west to the Cumberlands. Were there a town or even boats available, the family could have taken a boat west to the head of navigation. But migrating en group with an extended family, household goods, and livestock, the family probably headed west up the path en route to Ft. Cumberland.

Research Note: In 1755, British Gen. Braddock marched his Army west along the Potomac to Ft. Cumberland where he rendezvoused with Col Washington and the Virginia Militia. Washington had the easy route northwest on the Pioneer Road from his assembly area at Winchester in the Shenandoah. But, Braddock's army had to ford and re-ford the Potomac along the way; as there just wasn't a passable road from Baltimore to Ft. Cumberland.

At Willis Creek and the newly constructed Ft. Cumberland, Nicholas and family migrated north toward Ft. Raystown. The question is "How far did they go?" Was the original Lybarger settlement north of the Pennsylvania line or just north of Ft. Cumberland, still within the boundaries of the Maryland Colony? As there was no civil government north of the Pennsylvania line and considering the dearth of records, let us claim Maryland.

Research Note: There aren't any records for the Lybarger family at Willis Creek prior to 1772; as Bedford county wasn't formed until 1771 and there wasn't a local Lutheran church until 11/1805. We know that residents of Willis Creek had to periodically run south to the protection of Ft. Cumberland to evade the Indian depredations. Reasonable conjecture leads to the belief that the Lybarger family commuted back to Maryland to attend a Lutheran church where births, deaths, and baptisms were registered.

Reportedly, Nicholas settled in Fredrick Co MD where he died in about 1765. Nicholas' three sons are unaccounted for until their 1772 purchase of lands on Willis Creek in Bedford Co PA. Did the sons physically migrate north to the new community, or did they merely file on the lands they were already living on?

• Born c. 1707 Saarland, Lower Palatinate, Germany

• Married 1727 in Brenschelbach, Lower Palatinate to Maria Catharina Catgaruba b. c. 1710 Saarland, Lower Palatinate, Germany

• Immigrated 8/27/1739 aboard the Snow Betsie to Philadelphia PA

• Migrated by 6/1741 to Conewago Twp, Lancaster (now York) Co PA

• 1/1744 Hanover Twp, Lancaster (now York) Co PA Record

• 1750 Cumberland Co split from Lancaster Co PA

• Migrated by 3/1754 to Frederick Co MD

• 1754 Ft. Cumberland MD established

• 1758 Ft. Raystown (now Ft. Bedford) PA established

• Died c. 1765 Frederick Co MD

• 1768 Civilian settlement at Ft. Bedford

• 1771 Bedford Co split from Cumberland Co PA

    Children

    1. Nicholas Lybarger b. c. 1733 Brenschelbach, Lower Palatinate, Germany

    2. John George Lybarger

• Born 6/13/1741 Conewago Twp, York Co PA

• Christened 6/25/1741 Conewago Twp, York Co PA

• Migrated by 3/1754 w/ family to Frederick (now Allegany) Co MD

• Migrated after 1765 and before 1772 to Bedford Co PA

• Married c. 1766 in Pennsylvania to Susana Gise b. c. 1746

• 1768 Civilian settlement at Ft. Bedford

• 1771 Bedford Co split from Cumberland Co PA

• 1773 Cumberland Valley TWP, Bedford Co Tax List: George Lybarger

• 1776 Revolutionary War Service: George Lybarger 4th Co, 1st Bn PA Militia

• Died 7/10/1788 Bedford Co PA

• Buried Lybarger Cemetery, Madley PA

    3. John Ludwig Lybarger

• Born 11/10/1743 Conewago Twp, York Co PA

• Christened 1/1744 Hanover, York Co PA

• Migrated by 3/1754 w/ family to Frederick (now Allegany) Co MD

• Married c. 1765 Frederick (now Allegany) Co MD to Barbara Lybarger b. c. 1745

• Migrated c. 1765 to Bedford Co PA

• 1768 Civilian settlement at Ft. Bedford

• 1771 Bedford Co split from Cumberland Co PA

• 1773 Cumberland Valley TWP, Bedford Co Tax List: Ludwig Lybarger

• 1776 Revolutionary War Service: Ludwig Lybarger 4th Co, 1st Bn PA Militia

• 1/19/1785 Bedford Co PA Land Record: Lyberger, Ludwig, 100 a., Jan. 19, 1785

• 2/4/1819 Bedford Co PA Land Record: Lyberger, Ludwig, 170 a., Feb. 4, 1819

• 1820 Bedford Co PA Census: LIABERGER Ludwick, Sr.

• Died 8/1827 Bedford Co PA

• Buried Lybarger Cemetery, Madley PA

• Barbara died 12/1828 Bedford Co PA

Generation #2